New Zealand 49; Australia 28
Grahan Henry has labelled the match, and the victory as "scintillating", and it's hard to argue against that assessment. Robbie Deans heads for Christchurch on the verge of equalling the worst-ever losing sequence againt New Zealand for an Australian coach. Bledisloe I is over, and the All Blacks, whilst not as clinical as they were in Auckland, had the measure of the Wallabies.
The Australians came to play, as we expected they would, and that makes the All Black victory even sweeter. Sure, for half the match they were only up against 14 men (more on that later), but the All Blacks had to work hard for this victory, especially in the second half when the Wallabies attacked and attacked and attacked. But when opportunities came to counter, the All Blacks took them, and that is reflected in the seven tries to three margin.
It was a match for the loose forwards, and both loose forward trios had big games. Richie McCaw was outstanding again, and Jerome Kaino was devastating. Kieran Reid started slowly, but grew in stature as the match progressed. For the Wallabies, both Pocock and Elsom had huge games in a tremendous contest.
Once again, the All Black back three were prominent in the scoring action. Cory Jane set up a try with a deft kick and scored a beauty himself on the stroke of halftime, Mils Muliaina scored twice on his 30th birthday, and it was great to see Joe Rokocoko score as he became the All Blacks' most-capped winger. He was another to become more prominent as the match progressed.
Australia actually upped its game when Drew Mitchell was sent off for a second red card. We'll say this; Craig Joubert was absolutely correct in his decision, and in the message he gave Rocky Elsom that he (Joubert) was not responsible for the way the match went after the red card. Neither of Mitchell's offences were particularly severe, and we doubt that there'll be any further suspension, but the second yellow for preventing a quick throw-in was absolutely the right decision. Whether or not Mitchell was on the field when the general warning was issued is irrelevant; he would know as well as anyone that once you've had one yellow card, you have to tread very, very carefully.
So on to Christchurch next week. As bad timing will have it, we'll be in Melbourne! The Wallabies will be sweating on Will Genia, who was last seen sitting on the sideline with an ice-pack on his knee after a knock late in the match. It wasn't mentioned, but when we saw a replay, we saw Genia appear to twist his knee at the bottom of a ruck. The Wallabies will also be facing their third match in successive weeks, and will be down on confidence after last night's result. Away wins in the Tri-Nations have been in short supply over the last few seasons; for the All Blacks to have won away AND scored a bonus point (by half-time!) is noteworthy.
Bring it on!
6 comments:
Another impressive performance with the only thing to carp about is the fact that we let in three tries.
Is such a scoreline good for rugby irrespective of who wins.
When I think about the four matches to date they have all been affected by yellow cards and as far as I could see not one of the offences in yesterdays game warrented cards. Penalties sure although Franks may even have been hard done by with a penalty.
I hate the idea of following league but is it time for refs to put players on report with cards being limited to foul play?
Good points pdm, I am still in the dark as to the reason for Mitchell's first card, and I feel the second yellow was out of frustration from ref C J rather than an incident deserving a yellow, that it became an automatic red was, as Craig clearly stated going to probably influence the outcome, a little harsh in the larger scheme of things.
I have held an opinion for some time that with the major stakes involved both with the actual games and the betting they wish to attract, the card is too influential and should mostly be penalised and "put on report".
That said the game must eliminate the lifting tackle that caused the cards in the Bok tests and still brings a shudder when we review yet another replay of the Mealamu/Umanga effort on O'Driscoll all that time ago.
Maybe there could be a graduated penalty involving yardage for blatant 'offering a penalty' to reduce momentum or cause frustration with stupid petty actions such as Drew M did last night.Often a "march" disrupts a defense reset as not all defenders are aware of the loss of ground. Rocky Elsom had cause for grievance in front of the AB's posts last night when I think it was Brad Thorn who denied the Wallabies a quick tap that looked a very good option at that time.
A despairing Greg Growden wries in today's SMH:
"Give the All Blacks the Tri Nations trophy, right now. It is all over. The next month or so is just sheer theatrics.
And while we're at it, why not call off the Christchurch and Sydney Bledisloe Cup Test matches!
It's high time the Australian Rugby Union did long-suffering Wallabies fans a favour, because they have been subjected too long to unnecessary agony, dejection and disbelief as one Australian line-up after another has been put through the sausage machine, and turned into little boys by the All Black master butchers.
It's eight Tri Nations defeats in a row - and drawing close to the worst sequence ever when Australia lost nine in a row to New Zealand between 1936-47."
Thanks for the link Manolo - Crowden really puts the boot in to the Wallabies.
It's hardly a test when a player is sent off early in the game without any replacement. It would be far better to adopt the League 'On Report" system, or to allow the player to be replaced. He could be punished by a match fine later as well as stand down. There must be other alternatives to 15 v 14 or even 13. Punish the player not the punters.
More satire from FitzSimons: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/how-the-hell-did-that-happen-here-is-the-real-10point-plan-to-beat-those-mongrel-all-blacks-20100801-111g7.html
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